At CES 2016 more than 150,000 technophiles and gadget lovers walked the halls to find the latest and greatest in everything from drones to wearables to 8k TVs. Perhaps most important was the giant leap forward of the Internet of Things in home automation. That’s what gets our teams most excited anyway! Here are our top 3 home technologies from CES 2016:
1. Bluetooth
Bluetooth seemed to be pervasive in everyone’s IoT at CES this year. Ilumi Solutions has a Bluetooth LED Smartbulb, KitchBot is serving up sous-vide steaks, and Parrot is building smart planters. Bluetooth is also adding mesh networking, to help cover your entire home with a strong Bluetooth signal, and we can’t forget about Apple’s HomeKit technology.
We even announced a few new Bluetooth products ourselves. Kevo 2nd Generation provides the same trusted touch-to-open smart lock experience available in our existing Kwikset Kevo deadbolt, but with a refined user experience, sleeker design, and added security. We also announced Kevo Convert, our Bluetooth smart lock conversion kit that allows you to turn any deadbolt into a smart lock at an affordable price.
And we didn’t forget about HomeKit. We’d like to introduce you all to Premis, our first HomeKit compatible smart lock. Premis has all our best in class security features, including SecureScreenTM and our latest version of SmartKeyR. “Hey Siri, get the door!”
2. Wearables
It was another huge year for wearables at CES. It seems that everyone has a smart watch, or smart hat. Samsung even had a smart suit equipped with NFC tags! We’ve locked down our wearable technology as well; our Kevo products are compatible with both Android and Apple wearables. With Android you can even unlock your front door from your watch.
3. Whole Home Automation
One of the biggest challenges in making your whole home smarter starts with choosing the right hub. With ZigBee, Zwave, Bluetooth, WiFi and more, it’s hard to know which hub pairs with all the gadgets you want.
SmartThings and Insteon have both recently expanded the products and technologies their hubs work with, including the classics like Zwave and ZigBee and the new comers like Bluetooth and Apple’s HomeKit. There’s also the Thread Group, with a new wireless networking protocol designed to reliably connect hundreds of products around your home through a mesh network that has no single point of failure.
For the teams at Kwikset, that means we’re developing even more smart locks to connect to whichever platforms our consumers choose. We’re ZigBee and Zwave compatible, we have Bluetooth and HomeKit devices, and we’re working with Thread and Google’s Weave to bring smart locks to market that support these new protocols.
That wraps up our quick list of the best home technology from CES 2016. Don’t forget to check out Kwikset’s Kevo 2nd Generation, Premis and Kevo Connect! If you’ve been following CES news, we’d love to hear about your favorite products in the comments below!